Dark Duck 15: Halloween Mystery
by VAPX007
Summary: When a vampire wakes up without a memory, it's nice to know there are people out there who care enough ... to stop him. Here's a favourite old Sci-fi/fantasy classic short story idea ... with a VAPX007 vampire twist. COMPLETE Mystery/horror/humour
1. Going Nowhere

_Disclaimer: Darkwing Duck and all associated stock characters from the TV show was, is and shall forever (more than likely) remain the intellectual property of Disney._

_A/N: Yes, fellow science fiction/fantasy fans. Only a hack writer reuses such well worn ideas like this one. But who cares? Welcome to my world where every day is Hallowe'en._

__Here is how my belated Hallowe'en cliché story starts. _ _

* * *

><p><strong>Going Nowhere<strong>

* * *

><p>The vampire woke up with a headache. What was odder than the pain in his head was that it wasn't making him hungry. Something was wrong with him but it hadn't affected his appetite? Yep, that was quite a mystery.<p>

He got up and took a look around him. He was in a large room with lots and lots of shelves lined with bottles. Each of the bottles had different coloured contents and he shuddered to think what was in them. 'This must be a witch's lair.' He frowned, 'what the heck am I doing in a place like this?' He shivered at the idea that something worse than a headache could happen to him if he stuck around. On the thought he headed to the nearest window, his cape swishing behind him. He willed the Vespers in the air to open the window and, before the lair's unpleasant occupants returned, the vampire escaped by turning himself into a bat and flying out through the window.

'Now where do I think I'm going?' He chirped bitterly to himself, realising he was lost. 'Nowhere, that's-!'

"No, please ... Somebody help me!"

The feminine scream interrupted his thoughts, making his heart flutter with excitement. 'Aha! Now I know where I'm going!' He chirped in triumph and dived towards the location of the scream.

* * *

><p>The vampire circled in low and reformed into duck shape. The screamer was a woman rat and she was struggling against a male pig nearly twice her size.<p>

The urge to do something inspired the vampire into action. He stole silently towards them through the darkness of the night. 'Hmm ... decisions, decisions. The villain, the victim or both?' It only took him a moment as he reasoned out his options. 'Hmm, first off there's no real fun with a pre-caught meal. Second off I'm not hungry enough for the two of them.'

Decided, the vampire snatched the attacker into his grip. "Forgive me for interrupting," The vampire jumped in shock at hearing the sound of his own voice. 'Whoa!' "Uh, is this guy bothering you, ma'am?"  
>The crook squealed. "D-D-D-D-D-D ..." A wave of terror swept delightfully over the vampire's senses as his captive stuttered, lost for actual words.<br>'It's probably my dark voice that's scared him. Heh, it even startled me hearing it for the first time. I imagined it'd be higher.'

"Thank you ..." The woman gasped and collected her things from the ground. "Thank you so much!"  
>'Wow, what a nice person she is to say thank you to me ...' He felt a renewed appreciation for the woman in the darkness of the empty street and felt compelled to share the warm fuzzy feeling that he was having back. "Are you alright to get home, Miss.?"<br>"Yes, yes I-I'm alright ..." She turned and headed up the stairs and into the building beside them.

* * *

><p>'Excellent!' The vampire grinned as the door shut behind her and he returned his focus on the varmint in his grasp. The crook shivered as he brought his beak closer to his ear. "On the other hand, you are not a nice person, are you?" The vampire crooned softly; soaking up the terror he was inspiring in his captive.<br>"You ... you're nothin'!" The criminal whimpered, trying to be courageous by getting angry, "you're just pretending to be a vampire! Th-that's what."  
>"Aw. Did baby-waby listen to mummy-wummy when she told you that there were no vampy-wampies?" The vampire teased him.<p>

"Yeh ain't gonna do it!"  
>The vampire blinked in surprise. "I beg your pardon, Mr. 'tough guy'; do what exactly?"<br>"Bite me."

"Why, yes, of course!" The vampire's heart-rate jumped up and all at once he found himself very hungry. At the mention of blood his senses zeroed in on the criminal's heartbeats and he could smell the blood coursing through his arteries. "What a brilliant idea!" He licked his beak, leaned in and closed his beak over his captive's neck.

* * *

><p>After a few mouthfuls he lost interest and let go, discovering the initial thrill had gone stale. He sighed in disappointment and loosened his hold. Unsupported, his victim buckled and slid down to the ground. The vampire blinked down, surveying the prone figure. "It appears that Mr. 'tough guy' has fainted." He sniggered and bent down over the bulky pig. He drew his fingers against the marks he'd made. 'I can't leave them there ...' He closed his eyes and willed the injury beneath his fingers to heal.<p>

He straightened up and watched in curiosity as two people in matching uniforms approached from around the corner on foot.  
>"What happened? What did he do?"<br>The vampire looked up at the building the woman had gone inside. "Assault on ..." He stopped himself. 'What am I doing?' He grimaced at his mistake. 'Why am I answering questions like some obedient pet servant?' Thoroughly disapproving of his behaviour, the vampire promptly turned about on his heel and walked away. Once out of their sights, he changed into a bat and headed up into the sky.

In bat form the vampire flew high into the sky and took a wide pass over the city. He obviously lived somewhere in this city, so where?


	2. Little Girl Blue

**Little Girl Blue**

* * *

><p>The vampire dove down, passing close by each of the high-rise buildings. He couldn't recall his sonar map from his absent memory, but he could smell where he'd been.<p>

It took him a while to trace back over his scent because it seemed to cover every square twenty metres of the city.

Finally the trail ended at one of the bridge towers. The vampire flew in through the window and reformed in the centre of the stone floor. The tower with all its windows above had a nice wide and open air feeling. 'Wow, this is perfect. I must be rich.' Curious he crossed over to the corner where books filled the walls. 'How old am I?' He didn't actually feel old enough to have so many books in his own name. 'Maybe I'm just a bookworm.' He shrugged. 'Ah well, no matter.' He yawned, looking up to the windows. The sky was brightening with the approaching dawn. He changed into a bat and circled up to the roof to find a place to roost.

* * *

><p>"Dad?"<p>

A little voice from down below stirred him from his sleep. He blinked groggily down at the floor. A duckling stood there in the centre of the place. 'Not good.' He focused his attention on her. 'Sleep.'  
>She yawned. "Dad? Where ... are you?"<br>'Highly resistant!' He issued the order again and this time she crumpled to the floor, falling fast asleep. The vampire breathed a sigh of relief and flew down. He knelt down beside her.  
>'How do you know my lair, little girl?' He groaned at his mistake. 'But of course she won't answer me now because I've just put her to sleep!'<p>

'I guess I'll just have to figure it out myself.' He stood up and retraced her steps. They led back to the table. On it was a strange bottle that had not been there before. He picked it up and figured out how to open it within a moment.

It was juice, freshly made and it smelled fantastic. He gulped it down greedily.

It was a long moment as the vampire stood there, bottle in hand, trying to understand all this information. The little girl had made the juice for him. But the little girl was not his. Or had he stolen her to keep for himself? The notion twisted his stomach. He searched his mind for a better idea.

His memory was full of nothing, but his instincts were still functioning. He could piece in together what he might have done based on how he felt.

"I'm selfish." He resolved, putting the bottle down and moving back to her side. "I stole you to keep for myself." He sighed unhappily. 'That was a wrong thing for me to do.' He didn't feel good about it. He picked up the duckling and held her close. 'She called me "dad"." In her slumber she sighed softly, snuggling against him.

"Mine." The longer he held her in his arms, the more selfish he felt about her. "My little girl ..." The vampire moved across the tower to the little room in the interior. A bed and a Lupisei plant greeted him. Lupisei was sizeable, it's large black leaves stuck out in all directions but its attention was all on him.

'You are not well.'  
>'Hello to you too, Lupisei.' The vampire tucked the girl into the bed beside the companion plant. 'I'm fine.'<br>'Stay here, my friend. Let me help you.'  
>'I can't; I need sleep. Look after her for me, Lupisei.'<p>

He stroked the child's hair from her face. A song popped into his mind out of nowhere. "Rest your head, little girl blue. Come paint your dreams on your pillow ..." His voice choked on the rest of the words, feeling like a guitar string had struck him with their incongruence. He backed away from her and closed the door behind him. He turned back into a bat and flew back to his roost.

* * *

><p>When he next woke the vampire listened for her heartbeats only to discover that his confiscated child had vanished as mysteriously as she had appeared. Clearly she was very strong willed to have woken herself up. It made him feel good, knowing that his little girl was so strong. But really, he couldn't keep her. It wasn't right. He stretched his wings and flew out of the window and into the dying sunset. He had to do the right thing. He was obliged to return her to her parents.<p>

It took him till an hour after it was properly dark to find the little girl's path again. Now that he had it, he changed out of bat shape and in shadow form, he followed along the pathway.

The school.  
>The park<br>The house  
>The cinema<br>The arcade  
>The cemetery.<p>

The vampire turned in to South Hill cemetery and glided along the white gravel pathway. Finally the child's trail stopped at a set of plaques.

**Steve and Hillary Waddlemire**  
><strong>Lost but not forgotten<strong>

There were flowers in front of the nearly identical plaques.

**Professor Henry Waddlemire**  
><strong>Loving grandfather to Gosalyn<strong>

"Gosalyn." The vampire stood there silently looking at the Waddlemire graves in the shades of the evening. Tears clouded his eyes. "I've walked in on my own horror story ..." He sobbed. "What a horrible, selfish person ..."

He wiped his tears away. "... I was a horrible person. I used to be that person." He consoled himself. "But he's gone now. I can be a better person than that. I will do the right thing from now on because that's who I am now." He nodded solemnly at the grave stones. "I will not cause a thing like this again." He clenched his fists. "For Gosalyn's sake. I will not be the thing she fears."


	3. Heavy Mental

** Heavy Mental**

* * *

><p>"Hey, DW!"<p>

The vampire jumped, startled. He turned from the graves, looking for the person that had yelled.

Someone bulky hurried towards him. "Gosh, DW. If it wasn't for that tracking receiver, nobody'd ever know where to find you."  
>'There's a tracking receiver on me?' The vampire made a motion to find the thing. Then he realised it was probably the size of a microchip and hidden in any random square half inch of fabric he had on. He lowered his hands. "What is it?"<br>"It's S.H.U.S.H. Director Hooter. He wants to see you."

The vampire frowned. He wasn't keen on the idea of being summoned, no matter who it was. But this brown and cream clad individual's enthusiasm was inspirational and the familiarity this person spoke to him with was intriguing.

"Come on, DW. S.H.U.S.H. is this way."  
>"Alright then." He followed after the person back up the white gravel pathway. 'Apparently my name is four syllables long. Somewhat excessive; I should get it shortened. How about W? Three syllables; not too curt, not too-yikes! What-is-this?' He stopped in front of the gleaming machine '... a motorcycle?'<br>"You alright, buddy?"  
>"I'm fine."<br>"Oh, that's alright then." His friend held out the keys to him.  
>"Er, I am feeling a bit shaken up. How about you drive this time ... buddy?"<br>"Heh, no problemo."

DW sat gingerly down in the sidecar and got handed a helmet. DW took his hat off and put it on, wondering what good it'd do.

The engine started and they were off. "You look a little lost, DW. Is everything okay?" His escort commented over the roar of the engine.

The affection and concern in his new companion's voice made DW feel very warm. He reached his mind out, looking for his friend's name in his aural field. "Yeah, I am feeling somewhat disconnected ... Launchpad. It must have been that witch I escaped from last night. I might ask Lupisei to have a proper look at me later."  
>"Good to hear it. You gotta take care of yourself, yeh know, buddy."<br>DW settled into his seat and stared at the road as the motorcycle thundered aggressively up the road. 'Sure I'll take care of me, but the old DW that Launchpad remembers isn't worth rescuing.'

* * *

><p>DW followed his brown and cream clad companion into the large low-set building that was S.H.U.S.H. and up along the maze of corridors. The vampire resolved to keep a bit of faith about the reason they were in this place. From his aura field Launchpad was clearly only doing this for DW's benefit.<p>

They stepped into an office and immediately DW felt a cold shiver of warning.

He turned his head for the threat and sized up the bear standing there. The bear had his sights on the vampire and the minion's scowl deepened as they made eye contact. But the bear was no match so long as the vampire kept a check on his heart beats. DW turned his head back to the avian seated behind the desk. 'And so this must be ...' "Director Hooter?"

"Hello, Darkwing. I'm glad you could come in to see us at such short notice."  
>'Who's that; me? I'm Darkwing now? How many names do I go under?' Darkwing approached the desk. "What reasoning do you have for calling me in, Director?"<br>"We have a case we think you can solve for us."  
>Darkwing scratched his head, feeling perplexed. 'A ... "case"? A case of what?'<p>

Hooter offered a folder up to him and Darkwing took it. He flicked through it.

Picture after picture. 'Dismemberment, missing appendages ... oh, and the set wouldn't be complete without missing organs, of course. Yee-uck!' He looked back at the elderly avian, sitting serenely in his chair on the other side of the table. 'Oh, yes that's right, none of this bothers you. And what are you, anyway?' He searched the Director's aural field and came up with nothing more than his previous observations. 'Yep, you're one serenely in charge guy ...'

"DW?"

"Oh, sorry; here you are, Launchpad." DW promptly handed the offensive picture collection to Launchpad. "I'm warning you it's not pretty."  
>"Uh, I meant have you got any ideas about the culprit, DW?"<br>"Well, it's a tribute, obviously, Launchpad. It could be for a witches spell, it could be a demon worshipper or just someone tired of playing with miniature Barbie dolls and are going for the life size edition. Why should I know?"  
>"Hey! You mentioned a witch earlier, DW. We should check it out! They may be connected."<br>DW wasn't very impressed with this connection that his companion had just made. "You mean check out the witch?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"You are kidding me, right, Launchpad?" DW looked at his friend in disbelief. 'I could've been dust last night and you expect me to go back there!'  
>"No problem, Director Hooter; we'll get right on it."<br>"It is greatly appreciated Darkwing, Launchpad."  
>Launchpad started out of the room. "DW?"<p>

DW frowned at Hooter for a moment, trying once more to read the elderly avian's delta waves with very limited success. 'I don't think I trust you, Director Hooter.' He finally decided and turned on his heel.

* * *

><p>The vampire followed his companion as they headed back along the corridors.<br>"So let me get this straight, Launchpad. We're going to go looking for the extremely deranged person that slaughtered all those people, even though we may in fact find ourselves facing a super powerful witch who knocked the stuffing out of me scarcely twenty four hours ago?"  
>"Uh ... yep." Launchpad chuckled. "That's about the size of it." They got back to the motorcycle.<br>The vampire stared at the gleaming metal monster. "That's a really dangerous thing to do, Launchpad."  
>"Heh, I seem to recall you telling me that your middle name is 'danger', DW."<br>"Really, Launchpad? Did I happen to mention that 'insane' was my other middle name?"  
>"No, but 'crazy' is mine." Launchpad smiled at him and handed DW the helmet again. "Can you remember where you were, DW?"<br>"I hazard a guess to say it was the witch's lair, Launchpad. It was filled from wall to wall with their sick set of specimens."  
>"Hey, I remember Gosalyn telling me that the St Canard museum of Natural History has a huge collection of creepy dead things!" Launchpad revved the engine into life and DW quickly dived into the side car.<br>"We're not ... you don't want to go there now, do you?" DW squawked. "You can't just fight a witch like that, Launchpad, you need to be-."  
>"The museum is near a Hungry Hippo outlet! We can go have a look and then grab a couple hamburgers afterwards." Launchpad twisted the grip and they shot forward rapidly.<p>

DW caught his breath as they tore up the street, holding tightly onto his fedora in his hands as the wind made his cape flap wildly behind him. "Launchpad!" He complained. "I know you're hungry but we'll never get there if you don't slow down!"  
>"Gee, sorry, DW. You wanna drive?"<br>"Don't tempt me, Launchpad." DW sat back and stared at the road ahead of them.


	4. Trick or Treat

**Trick or Treat**

* * *

><p>They sped across town.<p>

DW wondered what sort of deranged villain he used to be that would see him involved with a person like this doubtless Launchpad; who was driving him straight to a potential beheading.

"Uh oh." Launchpad slowed the machine. "I guess the museum will have to wait."  
>"What's the matter?" DW asked in puzzlement.<br>"Looks like a Fearsome trick, DW." The driver tapped the screen positioned between the handlebars. "Should tell 'em Halloween's over, right buddy?"  
>'A what trick?' DW looked around, not seeing any tricks, fearsome or otherwise.<br>Launchpad parked the machine and jumped off, running away.  
>"No, not again, come back-d'oh!" DW huffed. 'Enough of this!' The vampire translocated in front of Launchpad.<p>

Launchpad skidded to a stop in front of him.  
>"You're a very confusing individual, Launchpad. With all good intentions, you-."<br>The door beside them smashed open. Two ducks in brightly buzzing outfits appeared from inside. Two very strange looking things accompanied them.  
>"Oh. Now this is a better turnout ..." The vampire licked his beak.<br>The two ducks heart rates rose. "You dweebs gonna do something or are you happy bein' a buffet?"  
>"W-well I d-d..." one of the strange things was trembling in fear of the confrontation.<br>"Spitwater: that's what it does!" The other strange thing gurgled.

Without any more warning a blast of water was heading for DW. "Whoa!" He quickly created a wall of Vespers to block the attack. He was a moment too late and instead of a solid wall of air rejecting the rush of water the two forces merged. Tiny water droplets splattered everywhere for several metres in every direction.  
>"Liquidator!" The other strange thing shrieked.<p>

* * *

><p>"I'm so happy! I get a chance to try out my new Jack Pumpkinhead doll."<br>"That doesn't sound too bad." Launchpad replied to the duck, looking at the pumpkin shaped toy.  
>"He is gonna make meringue out of you!" With a laugh the duck finished winding and put the toy on the ground. It whirred for a moment. "Get him, Jack!"<br>"Oh, no." Launchpad backed away as Jack sprouted legs and large cleavers for arms, aggressively chopping at everything in its path.

"In over your head are you, Launchpad?" The vampire sniggered as Jack advanced on his friend. "How about we turn our luck around?" He summoned the Vespers in the air and circled them around the toy, turning him so he was heading back for his master.  
>"No, no, not me, Jack!" The duck squawked, scrabbling clear of his own invention.<br>"I'm surrounded by morons." The duck in yellow commented, leaning against the wall nearby.

DW turned his head back to regard the plant-duck creature. 'I'm not going to hurt him.' He mentally assured the incoming plants. 'You can go back home.' He smiled at the hybrid. "What an interesting tidbit you are, my friend? A bit of this and a bit of that." The vampire licked his beak, grinning. "Not too sweet, not too sou-."

The vampire dodged as the duck in yellow fired his weapon at him. DW whirled about and leapt across the short distance between them, snatching up the duck with a growl. "That's the last mistake you'll ever make!"

"DW! No, don't do it, DW!"

The vampire sank his teeth into the duck's neck.

* * *

><p>He had taken a mouthful before he registered Launchpad's terrorized cry.<p>

DW pulled back after another mouthful. "What is it, Launchpad?" He hissed at the hamburger eating biker. "Have I never warned you not to interrupt me when I'm eating? I could end up eating you instead! Is that a risk you're willing to take?"  
>The two ducks and the plant thing stared at him in shock as he clasped his victim's shoulders. Bits of the pumpkin doll were all over the wet pavement.<p>

"Aw, come on, you lot. Are you telling me you didn't know I was a vampire?"  
>His lunch squirmed in his grip. "Ha, you're a lousy vampire, Dorkwing. If I were a vampire I could show you a thing or two on how it's done."<br>"Not a chance, duck." DW pulled him close again. "I'd rather show mercy on the rest of the world."  
>"DW, stop! Yeh don't want to do it, DW."<br>"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do want to do it, Launchpad. Why? Because I'm hungry. Not to mention the fact that this duck tried to do more to me than just scorch my nice clean cape."

"Let go of him, please! Please, DW. I know he's evil but you've got to let Negaduck go. Please. It's for your own good."  
>"Oh, fine! Just stop begging, it's really starting to get on my nerves." He shoved Negaduck into the inventor-duck's arms hard enough that they both fell onto the ground in a heap.<p>

'I'll have more fun with the hybrid anyway. But first I'll have to get away from this Launchpad.' The vampire turned himself to shadow and swirled around the plant-duck. He recalled his lair to his mind and translocated them both there.

* * *

><p>They were now safe in the quiet gloom of his tower home. The vampire moved away from his captive and reformed into duck shape.<p>

"D-Darkwing ... Where ... where are we?" The strange creature gasped unsteady on his roots.  
>"Hopefully somewhere we could be alone in private." The vampire answered quietly. "What a delicious tidbit you are, my friend."<br>"N-no, not really, I-I'm actually a b-b-bit poisonous."  
>The vampire licked his beak. "I like a challenge."<br>"You ... you've lost your memory, haven't you, Darkwing?"  
>The vampire advanced eagerly on the hybrid.<p>

His shaking prize coiled his vines around him in a bid to stop him, unaware that the more physical contact they had, the more pheromones he was absorbing from Darkwing. 'Is there anybody out there?' The plant-duck called out over the delta waves.  
>'Yes?' Lupisei replied from the depths of the tower.<br>'Help me!'  
>'What are you fussing about, Reginald?' Lupisei, the only plant within five hundred metres replied. 'Calm down; it's just a vampire.'<p>

Darkwing laughed. "Do you think you could stop me on your own, Reginald?"  
>"If ... if I have to ... I ..."<br>"But do you really want to stop me?" He grinned at Reginald, feeding even more pheromones through Reginald's vine-hold. "I can make you feel so-oo good, my timorous friend."

"What am I ... absorbing?" The creature realised in a daze. He pulled his vines away, looking at his leafy hands. "It's some sort of ... pheromone ... formula." He curled his leafy fingers together. "I'm sorry, Darkwing." He looked up, "it doesn't work on ..." His green friend's voice trailed off. Flecks of black were in his green eyes. "W-I guess it sort of does ..."

Darkwing smiled calmly back at him. "My clever companion." He stated affectionately as he took him into his arms. "Let me taste you." The vampire crooned. "All you need to do is give in to me and everything will be just fine."


	5. Duck Blind

**Duck Blind**

* * *

><p>The vampire opened his mind, wanting, willing to connect with his leafy companion. "Oh, you're so shy!" He cooed. "Just relax; it'll be eas-."<p>

"Darkwing!"

The thunderous dark feminine voice came crashing in on his senses. "Let go of Bushroot this instant!"  
>"Yipe!" Darkwing recoiled from his feast and Bushroot stumbled back.<p>

Darkwing snatched his cloak up to hide his beak. He turned to face his intruder and found himself seeing red. Blood red. Then he blinked and realised it was only the colour of her dress. The heart-stopper dress moulded along those long legs up and around the woman's hourglass figure. The way she stood she was clearly a lady and he felt his insides jolt as his gaze finally met hers. There was something in those green irises that just made her ... perfect.

Then he blinked again and it was now that he noticed the white streaks in her hair. 'She isn't old enough to be going grey ...' He mused. 'Of course, what a fool I am!' His heart rate slowed. 'Oh, she really is perfect. Except for one teensy little problem ...'

"Overspend our resources, did we, miss witch?" His voice came out in bitter disappointment. "I hope it was for a good cause."  
>"What? Oh." She raised her hands to her hair for a moment. "Of course it was, Dark."<br>"Oh, yes? What sort of spell-casting was it? Fire and brimstone? Demon banishment? Oo, I know, you rescued an entire populace from a big scary dragon." He noticed his timid hybrid plant friend back away from them into the depths of the tower but there was nothing Darkwing could do about it.  
>"Erm, n-not quite, it was, uh a little more ... personal."<p>

"Oh, I get it. You were passionate about something."  
>"Darkwing, you have no idea what ..." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you judging me?"<br>"Oh, no, not at all, miss witch. Passionate people are so flavoursome." He licked his beak as the thought of tasting her flashed across his mind and then he froze. 'No! I can't forget about Gosalyn!' He felt himself torn. 'This is one very dangerous ... painfully attractive witch.' The vampire reminded himself, even now feeling a compulsion to move closer to the woman in red. 'Judging by the look in her ... very beautiful eyes ... she wants me for the next time she 'gets passionate' about something and I've got to stay alive for Gosalyn's sake!'

He frowned sadly at the lethal beauty in red. "I'd really love to stay and let you suck the life out of me, miss witch, but the guilty must remain to take responsibility for their past actions."

"Guilty?"

He turned into a bat and flew up and out of the window above.

"Dark ... Dark, wait!"

* * *

><p>'So that's the witch the S.H.U.S.H. people are after?'<p>

The vampire flew across town and found an old building covered with ivy. He landed on a gargoyle and hooked his feet to the underside of the statue's overhanging wing.

The image of the red witch filled his mind and wouldn't leave. 'No wonder she got that shot in last time.' He sighed as he folded his wings tightly around him.

And now she had encroached on his lair. The game of cat and mouse with her had become very serious indeed.

* * *

><p>The smell of death woke the vampire up. He climbed up over the gargoyle's wing and blinked at the last embers of the setting sun. He sniffed, figuring out where the scent of freshly spilt blood was coming from. There was a murderer down below in the courtyard and this knowledge made him quite ravenous.<p>

"There's the last one." The tall blood-tainted dog handed a jar over to the diminutive mouse.

The vampire stretched his wings and circled down. Once he reached the grass of the courtyard he shifted into shadow. The witch from the tower was not here. The mouse looking at the eerie contents of the jar was a different person altogether.

"Now we'll finally be able to-."

Something inside the vampire bubbled up and he spoke up from the shadows, interrupting their exchange. "And so I've found my murderer and my witch all at the same time!"

In a flash, the killer duo bolted in opposite directions. 'Good, I didn't want to take on a witch.' The vampire glided after the murderer rather than the mouse holding the jar. 'But so that means I've got two witches after me. Why me? There are plenty of other vampires in a city this big.

Anyway; this is the guy in Director Hooter's pictures.' The murderer bolted inside the building and the vampire drifted after him.

* * *

><p>In the lobby of the building a strange person stood, blocking the vampire's quarry from escaping up the stairs.<p>

"Boy, talk about your dedicated students; coming in to study when everybody else has long gone home. What are you studying? A medical degree with a major in Sociopathology?"

"W-study? What? No! You've got to help me, mister!" The murderer gasped for breath "... Darkwing Duck is ... w-... he's after me!"  
>"Yeah, like I didn't notice." The rat droned.<p>

* * *

><p>The vampire waited patiently behind the dog. Here, like the plant-duck was another strange creature that he sensed would be a tasty morsel.<p>

"I'm really sorry I have to do this." The rat pulled a cylinder shaped object from his utility belt. Darkwing Duck checked it with a sonar call but couldn't see any firing mechanism to the thing.  
>"A torch? What kinda lame joke is this?" The murderer snapped angrily at him.<br>The rat continued, staring straight at Darkwing. "Oh, the tragic irony for us to reconcile our differences only to end up here at a final showdown in the lobby of the St Canard university science block a scarce few days later." The rat sniffed. "Actually," the rodent said in a suddenly chirpier voice, "it is kinda fitting."

"Get a life. Get out of my way." The murderer growled at him.  
>"Really, is that what you want?" The rat pointed directly at Darkwing and the murderer turned.<br>"Where? I don't see anything."  
>"We-ell, how good are you at maths? Can you count how many shadows you've got?"<br>The dog looked down at his feet. "Oh, no! Help me!" He screamed, ran towards the rat and tried to hide behind his skinny form.  
>"Oh, get off me and shut up!" The rat grizzled at the killer clinging to his back. He pointed his finger backwards at the dog and a bolt of electricity passed between them.<p>

With that the dog yelped and sprawled unconscious on the floor.

* * *

><p>Darkwing's dinner was ruined.<p>

"You know what you are, rat? You're a spoilsport!" Darkwing was fuming.  
>"Wow!" The rat voiced in shock. "I don't believe you're telling me that! They really fried your brain good!"<br>Darkwing reformed out of shadow and snarled at him. "I don't know how you found me or even just who you think you are, but that was a ... big ... mistake, rat."  
>"That's not the mistake, D." The rat sobbed, raising the 'torch' device. "This is the mistake!"<p>

Darkwing heard a quiet click and everything went white.


	6. Jail Bird

_A/N: Ach! Sentences! How many times am I gonna pull these lines to pieces? _

* * *

><p><strong>Jail Bird<strong>

* * *

><p>The vampire woke up to find himself in someone's arms. He moved to escape but his captor was just as fast and quickly grabbed him back.<p>

He struggled to breathe in her tight, feathery hold. It was a proper vampire griplock and he was going nowhere for as long as she held him like this. "Can we talk about this rationally, my dear?"  
>"You're not well, Darkwing." She stated matter-of-factly.<br>"I can still be rational!" He tried again but she still wouldn't let him go. "Look, if you're not going to bite me then kindly let me go!"

"Gr-agh!"

It was the voice of the rat that had defeated him so simply earlier and the vampire looked up to see him standing before him.

"Why are you always so stubborn, Darkwing?" The rat gestured widely, looking up as if imploring the roof for an answer. The vampire looked up too and saw he was back at his tower ... how had they known to come here? How did they find him in the first place?

"Why must you al-ways-ar-gue?" The rodent held his hand to his unusual hat in distress, his voice rising and his electrical field fritzing with his heated emotions. "I-just-don't-get-you!" Darkwing swallowed hungrily, watching the other's energy field rippling like a tide surging to take on the coastline.

"Elmo, calm down" said the woman from behind. The sound of her voice had the effect of closing a window from an electrical storm.  
>"Woopsie, am I making him you-know-the-aech-word?"<p>

"Probably, but the problem is you're making me you-know-the-aech-word and I don't have time for that sort of thing right now, luminary."  
>Elmo's heart-rate skittered for a moment and he blushed.<p>

While these two talked, the vampire observed three others in the room behind the rat; the plant-duck Bushroot, the red witch ... and the child Gosalyn.

* * *

><p>"If I make you so angry why didn't you kill me, Elmo?" The vampire asked him.<br>"Well, I tried, Darkwing." The rat answered in a calm, honest voice. "But as usual, I didn't account for your rotten good luck."

"He-ey! Wait just a cotton-picking minute here!"

Gosalyn put her furious self between Darkwing and Elmo and turned to face the rat with a swish of her cape. "You said you were just going to help him, Megavolt!" She growled.

"Megavolt?" Bushroot came and stood next to the rat. His eyes met Darkwing's for a moment before returning his attention to the rodent. "Were you just saying you tried to kill Darkwing, Megs?" Bushroot addressed the rat, "But I thought you'd reformed?"  
>"I have!" Megavolt insisted, looking at them both. "Aw, don't give me that look; Darkwing asked me to do it!" Megavolt whined.<br>"Oh and you listen to everything dad says? Sheesh." Gosalyn grumbled in disapproval. "Well count yourself lucky, buster, because if anything had happened to him ... then you'd have ... me ... to deal with, and I can tell you right now that it-wouldn't-have-been-pretty!"

Megavolt gulped nervously at her. "Yes sir-ma'am Quiverwing!"

Gosalyn, now going by the name of 'Quiverwing', turned to her dad and checked him over for sign of damage. Her prodding fingers causing him to suffer a sudden ticklishness. She stepped back and her sharp green eyes went soft as she regarded him. "You are okay, right Darkwing?"  
>Her protectiveness overwhelmed every other feeling anyone else was having in the entire tower and made them all look empty to compare.<br>He nodded back down at her in a swell of affection. "Sure; I'm fine, sweetie."

"Sweet!" The woman behind Darkwing derided. "Now there's an adjective of contention."  
>"Hey, hey!" Gosalyn's father pushed against her grip in retaliation. "There's nothing wrong with having a little spirit!" He gazed at Quiverwing. "She's perfect just the way she is!"<br>Quiverwing hugged him from below. "Thanks, dad."

"What happened to you, Bushy?" Megavolt asked Bushroot at this moment.  
>"It was ... er ..." Bushroot glanced at Darkwing and then to the rat again. "I'm alright."<br>Darkwing licked his beak. "You wanna go another round, Bushy?" He chuckled at having gained the delicious plant-duck's attention again.  
>"Um ... uh ... that is ..." Bushroot stumbled across his nerves looking to find an answer to such a formidable question.<p>

* * *

><p>"Look, Darkwing, let's try and focus for a moment alright?" The woman behind him said briskly. "You're sick. We want to help. How about it?"<br>"Well, I'm all for getting better ..." he paused; 'minus the memory part'.

The woman whose name was still unknown to him must've caught his pause because her hold of him stayed fast.

"So if that's all, then why have you still got me in a vampire griplock, my dear?" He asked. "We could be friends instead," he tacked on hopefully.  
>She sighed. "It's for your own sake that I'm holding onto you, Darkwing."<br>"Oh! You make no sense!" He grumbled in frustration.

The red witch stepped in front of Megavolt. "Dark, let us help you, please."  
>"Witch." Trapped in the vampire griplock he had the distinct feeling like the woman with no name might be serving him to the red witch like some sort of tribute. For Quiverwing's sake he needed to stay alive but the decision was no longer his. Back away he couldn't. Run, he couldn't, hide he couldn't. Trapped in the arms of the other woman he gulped as he looked up at the looming red witch.<p>

The vampire took a fearful breath and the smell of the red witch's spicy trade filled his nostrils making him stiffen even more. "You don't want to help me; you did this to me in the first place with your spells."  
>"No, Dark!" Her eyes widened as though unbelieving. "That wasn't me!"<br>"Da-ad, don't you remember her?" Quiverwing said looking up at him, "that's Morgana! You two have only been dating for like months!"  
>"Morgana, please. Step back." The woman behind Darkwing urged and the red witch obeyed.<br>"Thank you." The vampire was quietly grateful and sighed in great relief.

"Come with me, Quiverwing." Morgana held out her hand, "Felicia will look after Darkwing for the moment now. She can't do it with us here."  
>"Yeah ... okay." Quiverwing begrudged the gentle order with a great deal of self-discipline. "Don't worry, dad, you told me before that Felicia's on our side." The child gave him another reassuring hug. "And if she tries anything funny she knows she'll have to deal with me." Quiverwing shot Felicia a fierce warning look and then turned away.<p>

Quiverwing took Morgana's hand and they quietly vanished through a glimmering portal.

* * *

><p>Felicia looped her fingers more loosely around the vampire's shoulders and he felt her unusual presence growing in his mind.<p>

_Wind whipping, waves crashing, clouds gathering, sky darkening, lightning flashing, thunder roaring, raindrops tumbling, deluge pouring, down pipes babbling, water puddling, clouds parting, sun glistening, rainbow casting, breeze ruffling..._

"Exotic creature" the vampire murmured, feeling his whole body relax amidst her mental montage. He sighed, enjoying the taste of her.

Miles away back in reality he heard Bushroot murmur softly. "Oh, gosh. Megs, Felicia's doing the same thing to him ... Th-that Darkwing did ..."  
>"I didn't guess it worked on other vampires too ..." Megavolt muttered back.<p>

"Let me help you, Darkwing." Felicia crooned into his ear. "What do you say?"  
>"Okay, Felicia." He answered dreamily.<br>'Come.' She let him go and they walked off into the depths of the tower to the little room together.

* * *

><p>'Lie down.' Felicia coaxed him in a reassuring mental voice, placing her hand on his chest. He lay down on the bed and she sat beside him with her hand on his chest, her mental voice lingering reassuringly in his mind.<p>

The vampire startled as Lupisei's vines began coiling around him; realising all-at-once that Lupisei could restore his memories and make him return to being that fiend that had stolen a child and killed her parents...  
>"Hush, steady on, Darkwing! Lupisei's your friend. It won't do anything you don't want it to, okay?" 'Be a little more gentle on him, Lupisei. That's it.'<p>

The plant tightened its tentacular vines around him, hooking in and merging their energy fields together.


	7. Valentine Ghoul

**Valentine Ghoul**

* * *

><p><em>Soaring, flying, fluttering, searching, waiting, snatching, tasting, hugging, kissing...<em>

* * *

><p>The vampire woke himself up before Lupisei could delve too deeply into his mind.<p>

The Lupisei plant stood beside him, its tendrils coiled in marked disapproval. 'Why have you broken the connection, Darkwing?'  
>'Don't get your leaves in a ruffle, Lupisei.' Darkwing countered. 'It's my head now and I don't want that Darkwing Duck fiend back. Period. Finis. End of discussion." He stood up and stepped over to the door.<p>

* * *

><p>Darkwing cautiously opened the door a crack and listened for white noise. Only the red witch could be heard. Just ... Morgana.<p>

'If Darkwing Duck and Morgana have been dating for months then she can't be any more of a threat now than she was when I was whoever I was when I started dating her.'

The vampire loitered at the door looking for his courage. Of all the people who were here earlier Gosalyn trusted Morgana the most.  
>'On the other hand, Gosalyn trusts me and I haven't found much justification for that.' He shook his head and tried yet again to steel his nerves.<p>

_'... I'll be near to chase away fear._  
><em>So sleep now and rest till tomorrow.' <em>

He couldn't remember where the song came from and he could only remember the one verse but it felt very true and important.

'Just get a grip, DW.' The vampire swallowed, 'if I'm going to do right by Gosalyn I can't afford to be ruled by my fears. Not when it's my job to chase hers away.' He took a steadying breath. 'And now is just about as good a time as any to make a start.'

Darkwing shoved determinedly through the door and walked out to find out what the red witch had in store for him.

* * *

><p>"Morgana?" DW ventured towards her, doing his best to hide his nervousness. "Uh, how are you?"<br>The red witch stood up from the armchair, looking down at him from her lofty height, searching his eyes. "Oh ... I ... am okay, Dark. The matter is that ... you ... are still not fine." She pointed at him, her keen green eyes almost glowing. "Your aura field still looks unhealthy."

There was something extraordinary about this person and it was quite apart from her being a witch. This had to be someone who really did care about him to read his aura and then get upset over it. Dark looked at Morgana with a growing feeling of amazement.

"Is there anything you want to tell me, Dark?"  
>"Yes, actually, there is something I want to say to you as a matter of fact. You're a beautiful person, Morgana."<br>"Why, thank you, Dark ..." she accepted the compliment with a momentary blush.

Then she raised an eyebrow. "But I did mean about your health."  
>He hesitated. "I feel fine, Morgana. I remember everything back to waking up the other night."<br>"Oh, no." Morgana sighed and shook her head.  
>"So what?" He quacked. "It's not as if it's a big deal, Morgana." He gritted. "I mean, have you actually looked at this Darkwing Duck guy properly? What kind of vampire rides a motorbike instead of flying? I'll tell you: a maladjusted miscreant misfit! And dallying about with a daredevil deviant; that makes me suspect that Darkwing Duck also has a few screws loose."<p>

"I wouldn't say Launchpad was a deviant as such." Morgana commented.  
>"Aha!" He exclaimed, folding his arms in triumph. "So that means I got the rest right! Well, there's one thing I can say for Darkwing Duck and that's 'good riddance'."<p>

* * *

><p>"... I want my Dark back ..." Morgana murmured.<p>

'Why?' The vampire pondered on the obvious question of what it was that the red witch actually was wanting. "Maybe if we kissed it'd help."  
>"I ... I don't know. I suppose it's worth a try." Morgana sat back down on the chair.<br>Dark came over, leaned forwards and kissed her for a long moment. He brought his hands up to take her shoulders. Feeling the slightest energy drain from the contact points between them he figured this meant she was hungry so he opened up his energy field for her. Morgana immediately struggled in his grasp and in the next moment she let a bolt of lightning fly from her hands. The vampire jolted back, tumbling onto the floor in a heap.

In a moment he recovered and sat up, his feathers still crackling with the energy from the lightning strike. "What was that for?" He squawked. "I couldn't be any further from ... I mean I wasn't ... Wait a minute! You-that was my energy you used against me!" He realised the fact aloud. Then he laughed and stood back up. He looked her over. "My, aren't we the cunning and tricky individual tonight?" He remarked in approval. "Despite the fact that you're a witch you have-."

"Despite!" Morgana huffed indignantly and stood up. "Is that all you see, Darkwing?"  
>How sensitive she was! The wave of emotional hurt crashed over Darkwing and it alone threatened to tear him to pieces. "No, Morgana, I do not just see 'some witch'." He stated firmly. "There are so many good things that I see inside you, Morgana. I see ... you ... Morgana." He breathed her name softly. "How else can it be that my heart breaks so completely with yours?"<p>

There seemed only one sensible way that he could see to fix their communication problem. 'Morgana.' He reached her side and offered his hand for her. 'Come.' In a slow, gentle fashion he took her hand and calmly led her back to sit in the chair again. 'Morgana.' He leaned forwards and kissed her beak gently. 'Morgana.'

"Uh ... yes, Dark?"  
>'Let me taste you.'<br>"... Taste?"  
>He trailed his finger up her neck and she shivered. As he moved his beak closer to her neck he felt her flinch in his arms. 'Just a taste.' He assured her of his intention. He drew his finger up along her neck again, feeling her fine silky feathers against his. The suspense was potent as he waited for her response.<p>

* * *

><p>"No." She found her strength and made her decision. "I'm sorry, Dark." She put her finger against his beak, gazing at him with her emerald green eyes. "I want you to be you when you give yourself to me."<br>He straightened away from her immediately. "Oh, I see." He contemplated her with a frown. "I'm not good enough the way I am."  
>"I'm sure you can appreciate that I don't want to take advantage of you when you don't know what you are doing."<br>"But I do know what I'm doing!" Dark quacked, feeling remarkably inflamed. "I didn't realise my competition was so intense!" He fumed to himself.

"I am prepared to be where you need me, as you need me right now, Morgana. How long has he postponed your needs for? Months! How long will he continue to cast you aside like you were some minor pursuit?"  
>"It isn't like that!" Morgana gritted back. "Dating is a socially acceptable practice. Those are the rules we're following and frankly I made the decision to follow the rules right at the beginning so I see no reason why we must rehash it."<br>"Whose 'society' accepts this 'dating rule'?" Dark crossed his arms smugly. "It isn't in the witches' code, is it? We certainly didn't get it from the mastership."

"You don't remember what it was like to be a duck." Morgana said in a soft voice. "How horrible!"  
>Dark narrowed his eyes. "No, I don't remember and I'm not exactly what you could call tempted. Ducks have 'opinions' and they're obnoxious about it, constantly manoeuvring people into doing dangerous things and meeting questionable people. If not then they're egotistical beyond a joke."<p>

"Oh. Well, that is true ... or you could say that Launchpad sees the world and the people around him could do with a helping hand and so he takes it upon himself to do it, and Darkwing Duck studied for years to be as good as he is."

Dark shook his head. "You don't get it, Morgana. I don't want to be that person anymore. If I remember him, I'll risk going back to being him. Now ..." He swallowed. "For Gosalyn's sake which would be the better option? A clean slate like I am or that ..." He searched for an adequate description, "loud and quarrelsome savage?"  
>"Gosalyn has her own voice." Morgana responded soberly. "Although I'm pretty sure of what she'll say." Morgana stood up and cast a glimmering portal. Her head vanished as she poked it through the magical doorway. "Gosalyn? Oh, good. Won't you come up and talk to your father for a moment? I don't seem to be getting through to him."<p>

* * *

><p>Gosalyn's father listened to the cautious sound of the duckling's approaching footsteps from the other side of the portal.<p>

'Cautious?' "Whoa!" The vampire snatched the frying pan as it swung towards his head the moment she appeared in view. "Gosalyn, honey, what's this for?"

"To help you remember, dad! Du-uh."  
>"Gosalyn!" He squawked before calming down. "Sweetie," he knelt down to her, "how about we make some all new memories together, huh? I know you like sport, what sort do you play? Baseball, right? I can tell because you've got a real good swing. Oh, I know: how about a trip to the arcade?"<br>"Da-ad!" Gosalyn took his shoulders and shook him. "That's great you wanna hang out with me and-I-really-do-appreciate-it-honest but what about your job?"  
>"There's lot's of stuff I can do." He shrugged. "I can get a job in a petrol station for a start ... then maybe I could study and become a circus performer or something. Acrobatics seems rather appealing."<p>

Gosalyn groaned and rolled her eyes. "Do you really think you need to study for that, dad?"  
>"Study, practice, whatever. You've got to work for what you want in life, Gosalyn. If it's too easy the fun'll wear out too quick and you'll get bored."<br>"Yeah? How about studying things that are already boring?"  
>"If you didn't have a few boring things in your life then how would you recognise the fun stuff?"<p>

"Yeah okay, but don't you think History class is going a bit far, dad?"  
>"History's the fountain of knowledge." The statement popped into his mind.<br>"Why?"  
>"Well ..." He searched for a reason why he would have thought such a thing "I guess ... If you don't learn about history you'll make the same mistakes as they did."<br>"Gee. That sure is deep." She tapped her beak.

* * *

><p>"St. Canard needs you to remember your history, dad. How to be Darkwing Duck: the terror that flaps in the night striking fear in the hearts of evildoers! Those criminal scumbags know they're not safe wherever they may lurk! Look out bad guys coz here comes Darkwing Duck!"<p>

Darkwing glanced at Morgana as Gosalyn ranted. "Boy, is this guy self-involved or what?" He mentioned aside to her.

He chuckled and petted Gosalyn's head. "Gosalyn, sweetie-pie. St. Canard got along fine before 'Darkwing Duck' was around and it'll get by fine without him. It's you I care about, kiddo. You're my number one responsibility. I'm your dad and there's no job more important in the whole world."  
>"Aw, thanks, dad." Gosalyn hugged him.<p>

It felt good to have her in his arms with her warmth and feeling surrounding him and he happily hugged her back.  
>"I really need you to be Darkwing Duck again, dad." She said quietly as she rested her head against his chest. "You're just some wimpy vampire without your memory, dad."<p>

"Wimpy? You look at a vampire and-."  
>"Well, without your memory you've unlearned all your important lessons." Gosalyn pulled away from him. "And how to not be a wimp is something that you learnt!" She put her hands on her hips, a stern look in her light green eyes. "My dad was never scared of Morgana. Maybe about being turned into pudding or eating her pudding but not Morgana."<p>

"Gosalyn ... honey ... Darkwing Duck is also very selfish." He frowned at her. "And it's had some disastrous consequences. You of all people should know that."  
>"You're too hard on yourself, dad." She cooed, petting his arm. "Anyway, that's why you've got me and Launchpad and Morgana to look after you." Gosalyn picked up the frying pan, "now hold still and I'll make it real quick!"<br>"Wait!" He quacked, bracing himself. "Sweetie." He hooked his fingers around the rim of the frying pan. "If Darkwing Duck means so much to you, then I'll get him back for you."  
>"Right," she snorted derisively, "coz that plan's worked so far."<br>"Um, isn't it past your bedtime, young lady?"  
>Gosalyn pulled the frying pan backwards out of his light grip. "Alright, dad, how about a deal?" Her face screwed up as she spoke. "I go to bed and you try to get your memory back."<p>

Then she smiled sweetly at him but there was something treacherous in her mental expression which made his heart rate rise. "You'll remember everything in the morning."  
>"Thanks for the temporary reprieve, honey." He quietly gulped as he petted her head.<br>Gosalyn leaned forwards and kissed his cheek. "Goodnight, dad. Goodnight Morgana."  
>"Goodnight, Gosalyn." Morgana responded from above.<br>"Goodnight, my little Gosalyn." He responded quietly.

Darkwing's little girl turned on her heel and crossed the tower, frying pan in hand. She got onto one of the chairs sitting in the corner. In a flurry, she'd gone down the hatch.

* * *

><p>Darkwing stood up and looked back at Morgana, musing on his daughter's wicked streak.<p>

"Well, Dark? Now that you've been given an ultimatum from Gosalyn herself, what do you intend to do?"  
>"Ultimatum nothing!" He grumbled at Morgana. "She's not going to bed until she's set a few live traps for me." He slapped his forehead. "She won't be able to sleep until she's done something about it, so there's not even a point in my stopping her."<br>"Well, Gosalyn does have a point, Darkwing. You're not exactly ... that person she remembers anymore."

"Oh, Morgana." He looked at her. "I don't want to be that evil person."  
>"But you're not an evil person!" She put her hand on his shoulder for a moment and then stood back and shrugged. "You're an extremely opinionated person, yes and your arrogance about how you think you know what's best all the time can be rather annoying and your stubborn persistence combined with your habit for meddling even though you're not at work and you don't fully understand what you're dealing with can be markedly troublesome at times ... but that's not evil. As you pointed out earlier, that's just you being a typical duck."<p>

"... Gee, thanks for sharing." He acknowledged dryly. "So you really want that meddler back?"  
>"Dark, I've said it before. I want you to be you." She leaned forwards and kissed him. "Goodnight, Dark." She turned and cast another portal, creating a shimmer in the air that she then stepped through and disappeared.<p>

* * *

><p>He was now completely alone in his tower.<p>

"Darkwing Duck!" The vampire called loudly into the silent emptiness. "I sure hope you're worth it!" He turned and headed into the depths of the tower to visit Lupisei once more.

The vampire casually observed a familiar roaring sound of a motorcycle engine down on the roadway. He was reaching for the door handle when he realised as the noise of the engine bounced loudly around the stone walls that the motorcycle was coming up to the tower level.


	8. When There's Trouble

**When There's Trouble**

* * *

><p>The vampire turned and headed back to the centre of the tower. He watched as a big grapple contraption took hold of Launchpad's motorcycle and turned it around so it faced the way it had come.<p>

"Launchpad!" He exclaimed, "Well done ... you brought it back in one piece!"  
>"Hey, DW!" Launchpad met him in the centre of the room with a smile on his face. "You got yeh memory back!"<br>"Uh ... no," DW blushed as Launchpad's face fell, "I'm still working on it. I was actually just about to-."  
>"There's no time for that now, DW!" The bikie took DW's shoulders and shook him. "St. Canard needs you to save it."<p>

"Launchpad, don't you think you might be acting just a teensy bit over-melodramatically here?" DW pulled himself away from the duck and straightened his cape. "What is it that's got you ... of all people ... flustered?"  
>"Well, yeh know that witch we were lookin' for?"<br>DW thought quickly. "Can't Morgana help? She's a witch too. They could ... you know, maybe talk it out together?"  
>"It's not the witch, DW! It's the monster she's made! It's loose out there in the streets!"<p>

DW stared at Launchpad. "The monster ... that the witch created ... because I didn't stop her when I had the chance. Be-because it was too dangerous ... it's all because of me! Because I didn't have the guts to do something as dangerous as mess with a witch. Gosalyn was right." Darkwing swallowed. "There I was complaining about egotistical ducks and ..."  
>"Never mind all that, DW! It's dangerous out there. We've gotta do something now before things get any worse!"<br>DW straightened himself to attention and thought for a moment. "The best way to face a terrifying lethal danger is on an even footing. Launchpad, we'd better make ourselves dangerous too."  
>"Alright, DW!" Launchpad cheered in relief.<p>

* * *

><p>The vampire glanced around the tower. "Uh, Launchpad, you live here too ... is there anything here we can use to cause a distraction?"<br>"Heh, no problemo, DW." Launchpad hurried off. "I've got just the thing."  
>DW quickly followed him and looked over his friend's shoulder in curiosity as Launchpad rummaged through a large storage box of junk.<p>

Launchpad threw something that looked like a popgun out onto the floor. "Nope, not that one."  
>"Why, what's the matter with that thing?" DW picked it up. "We could load stuff into it and send it flying. It's a perfect distraction tool!"<br>"It's a bit melted ... here's one that's working ... er, I think ..." Launchpad looked up. "Wait a minute, DW; don't you always carry a gas gun on you?"  
>DW shrugged and started rummaging through his pockets. Amongst the bits and pieces he found an identical 'gas' gun and several cartridges that fit in the nozzle.<p>

He looked at each of the tags on the cartridges and found that instead of words they had a number of holes punched out instead. "Um, alright ... what do these holes mean, Launchpad?"  
>Launchpad glanced at the cartridge labels. "Um, sorry, DW. There could be anything in them; it's all Braille to me."<br>"The hole sequence indicates the contents ..." DW stared at the textual code his former self had devised. A hole sequence of three, two and a space and then two ... one a space and then three ... "Great, now I wish I really did remember Darkwing Duck."  
>"Well, at least we're making progress." Launchpad claimed. "Wanting is the first step to getting yourself better."<br>DW looked up at Launchpad. "Do you always pick moments like these to say enlightening things, Launchpad?"  
>Launchpad shrugged. "Gee, uh, that's a tough one, DW. I just call them how I see them."<p>

"Grab that boomerang contraption, Launchpad, and let's go."  
>Launchpad pulled out the boomerang launcher from the box. "What's this for?"<br>DW shrugged as he turned and headed for the gleaming motorbike. "Frankly I have no real idea about any of this, Launchpad, but you need a distraction of your own."  
>Launchpad chuckled as he followed him back to the motorcycle, "gee, thanks, DW."<br>"Yeah." DW sat in the sidecar. "Or you'll turn into a smudge on the pavement." He put his helmet on and paused in the middle of putting his hat into the compartment. "Hey, look what's in here!" He started rummaging through the various objects, now recognising the cluttered crowd as potentially useful tools. "You guys do this often, huh?"

Launchpad got onto the driver's seat. " 'We', DW; you and me." Launchpad revved the engine into life and Darkwing sat carefully down on his seat.  
>"Oh, no, here we go again!" He grabbed tightly onto his seatbelt and Launchpad raced out onto the bridge's suspension cables with a momentary feeling of weightlessness, and then thud, they were back on the roadway.<br>"Hey, y'alright, D-?"  
>"Watch-out-for-the-tip-truck!" DW quacked. He squawked as Launchpad pressed a button that made the motorcycle jump three metres into the air. Launchpad drove straight over the slow moving vehicle and they landed onto the road in front of it. "Heh, glad to know the new emergency a-bit-less-than-super spring is working properly."<p>

DW breathed in relief.

* * *

><p>"I get it now, Launchpad." The vampire resolved as they headed into the city, "you're a stunt driver."<br>"Er, a-actually, aeroplanes are more my specialty, DW."  
>"Then what are you doing driving a motorbike?"<br>"Well, it's a long story ... but it basically ended up with you giving me the keys."

They veered fast around a corner and narrowly missed a Toyota Canary.  
>"When I get my memory back, remind me to take those keys back off you!"<br>"Gee, DW; yeh never really minded me driving the station wagon."  
>"I don't care what you drive! It's me that I want to stay in one piece!" Mid sentence, the vampire sensed running people one street over from them. "Pull over!" He shrieked.<p>

Launchpad put on the brakes and they skidded several metres, spun around and finished off in a parking pace between two classy Metro Golden Birds.  
>"I didn't think I was that bad." Launchpad pouted, holding out the keys.<br>"No! I mean, yes; your driving really is that bad, Launchpad, but ..." Darkwing pointed at the alleyway opposite them. "We are one street away from I don't really want to know what." He shuddered. Launchpad's urgent need for his help was suddenly dwarfed by his need for self preservation. "You know what? I've changed my mind. S-someone else can do it. What about the police? Or S.H.U.S.H.? There's got to be a lot of people working in a building that huge. Perhaps we can g-go get them to handle this?"  
>"Er … it's uh … nearly 4 a.m. in the morning, DW. They're all in bed..." Launchpad pulled him to the edge of the pavement. "Hey, I know you can handle it, buddy." He proclaimed confidently.<br>"I can handle it?" DW repeated, feeling the words of encouragement working on him and making him bold.  
>"Yep."<p>

Launchpad led him across the street and they walked through the alleyway up to the other end. "Show 'em what yeh made of, DW."

"That's right! I am Darkwing-." Darkwing watched the monster on the street before him suddenly rip up a post-box and scatter the contents all over the ground.

Then the mismatched conglomeration of fur and feathers turned, sensing him watching it.  
>"... Dust!" Darkwing squawked. He stared transfixed in horror as it lumbered unsteadily towards him.<p> 


	9. Darkwing Duck

**Darkwing Duck**

* * *

><p>"DW, snap out of it!" Launchpad shrieked. He let the boomerang fly and it hit the monster as it reached its hands for DW.<p>

She snarled furiously at Launchpad, stood back up and then started lumbering towards him.  
>"Gee, uh, sorry ... uh, no hard feelings?"<p>

'Launchpad's in trouble ...' the vampire shook himself from his daze. 'I've got to do something.' He reached into his pocket and loaded a random cartridge into the popgun. He watched the creature getting nearer to Launchpad. "Here goes nothing!" He pressed the trigger.

The cartridge released a green cloud that enveloped the monster.

She started crying.

"Tear gas?" The vampire looked at the gun nozzle. "You're some self-absorbed egomaniacal biker with delusions of grandeur who saves the world with tear gas?"

* * *

><p>The monster didn't seem so terrifying now as she sat down clumsily on the curb, bawling pitifully into her hands.<br>"Gee I ..." The vampire swallowed. "I'm sorry about ..." He glanced at Launchpad who nodded encouragingly, urging him to keep talking to the creature. DW sat down on the curb beside her. "Uh ... why were you destroying things for?"  
>"Nobody like me."<br>"W-but that's no reason for destroying public property. I mean; what did that post box ever do to you?"  
>"Nobody write me." The monster picked up an envelope from the ground and threw it away with all her strength. The envelope fluttered to the ground less than a metre away from her feet and she started into another fit of crying.<p>

"Oh, no." 'I've got a depressed monster on my hands!' The vampire swallowed and looked up at Launchpad. Launchpad always had positive things to say. "Help me! I can't think of an answer."  
>The creature grabbed his popgun. "Okay. I help you think." Without any warning, she brought the popgun down hard over his head.<p>

Everything went black.

* * *

><p>"DW! Wake-up-wake-up!"<p>

Darkwing woke to a rough shaking and the sound of Launchpad's voice in his ear. "L-Launchp-pad, I-I'm aw-wake! Cut it out!"  
>Launchpad let go of him. "DW, are you you?"<br>"What do you mean am I me?" Darkwing rubbed his head. "You're getting as bad as Gosalyn."

He looked around. A horde of S.H.U.S.H. agents had cordoned off the street and were starting to move in towards them. Plus Launchpad and he had a visitor next to them listening in on their conversation. The mismatched creature gazed sorrowfully at him.  
>"No need to worry, citizen." He smiled at her, hoping some of his confidence would rub off. "Darkwing Duck is on the case-that's me, by the way. I have everything under control."<br>"Always works." She said mysteriously, giving him a small teary smile.  
>"Uh, yeah, sure." He muttered dismissively.<p>

* * *

><p>Darkwing stood up and watched the S.H.U.S.H. agents crowding in on them.<p>

He cleared his throat so as to speak loud enough for them to hear. "Do you guys mind? Can't you see she's upset? Back-off!" He quacked the order, gesturing loudly with his hands and shooed them back. He turned back to the creature and knelt down beside her. "They're like that to me too." He smiled weakly.

"Do you like me, Dark-wing-Duck?"  
>"Well, uh ..." He hesitated, looking at the loose envelopes scattered around them. "We can be friends-but no more breaking things, okay? Promise?"<br>The creature nodded and smiled. "I pro-mise. Friends?"

Darkwing looked into her aura field for her name and felt like his heart could break. He could sense every surgical cut that had brought so many people to their ends. However none of that was her fault and she was a living person in her own right who needed help right now. He did his best to smile back at her. "Yeah, let's be friends, Mandy."

* * *

><p>"Darkwing Duck?"<p>

Darkwing looked up into the face of Director Hooter standing before them.

"I am grateful you could diffuse this situation. We have the facilities to-er ..."  
>Darkwing was livid at the notion of S.H.U.S.H. taking Mandy away. They would put her in a cold white clinical environment and the last thing Mandy needed was for people to pry and run experiments on her. The look on Darkwing's face must have told the entire story because the short avian didn't finish his sentence.<p>

Darkwing jumped up to a stand and pointed at the crowd of S.H.U.S.H. personnel surrounding them. "I'm sorry, chief, but I-can't-trust-S.H.U.S.H.-in-this-matter."  
>"Perhaps if you or Launchpad were to accompany-er..."<br>"Mandy." Darkwing supplied.  
>"Mandy ... to our medical facilities it would be more to your approval?"<br>Darkwing frowned at Hooter and turned his head to glance at Launchpad. "No, I still don't like it, Director; the answer is no."

"No friend?"  
>"Not today, Mandy." Darkwing helped her up onto her unsteady feet.<br>"No friend!" Mandy repeated, getting upset.  
>"Hey, hey." Darkwing cooed, petting her arm, "come with me, Mandy. I'll take you to meet some new friends, huh?" He glanced around the street. "Uh, Launchpad, did you bring the rat-catcher with you by any chance?"<br>"Oh, sure, DW." Launchpad held out the keys for him.  
>"No, no; you drive, Launchpad. You know how much I like to suddenly disappear." Darkwing turned to Mandy and once again felt that painful splicing and stitching in her aural field that had brought her into such an existence as this. "What do you say, Mandy? Are you up for a little ride?" He smiled gently at her.<p>

"Darkwing, are you sure you have the resources to give Mandy all the care and supervision she requires?"  
>Darkwing turned his head to view Director Hooter. "Director, between Bushroot and Megavolt and even my own personal experience I've learnt how important it is to never let go of someone in need." He took Mandy's hand again. "We're going to give Mandy all the help she can get to become a functioning member of society again. Now, if you can please dismiss your people so we can get on with it?"<br>Director Hooter nodded and looked up at his nearest officer. "The situation has been neutralized, Agent Lanley."  
>"Very well, sir." Lanley saluted and turned away to the personnel. "Okay, agents, we're all clear. You can return to your prior duties."<p>

Darkwing watched the horde of suits file out of the vicinity and breathed a sigh of relief that this particular argument was over.  
>"Darkwing, I am sorry to say this but Mandy has destroyed public property." Hooter reminded him.<br>"I-sorry!" Mandy yelped unhappily, clinging to Darkwing's arm.  
>"There, you see, Director." Darkwing smiled reassuringly at Mandy, brushing a fresh set of tears from her eyes with his spare hand. "Mandy understands that now."<p>

Darkwing turned his head and reviewed the crashed post-box. He summoned the Vespers in the air around it to tip it back to a stand on its spot.  
>"Wow!" Mandy gaped impressed as she watched the envelopes slotting back through the slit in rapid succession.<br>Darkwing grinned. "Yep; one hundred and forty four letters to go in the next mail run."

* * *

><p>He nodded to Hooter, "McMouse's personal gofer is the one we need to worry about, chief."<br>"We have him in custody."  
>"Oh." Darkwing frowned, privately disappointed. "Well then there's no real danger to the public anymore. I'll catch McMouse and complete your set, Director."<br>"I would be gratified, Darkwing." Hooter nodded and walked away.

Darkwing Duck turned back to Mandy. "Come on, Mandy. Let's go meet a friend of mine. I think you'll like her. Her name's Morgana."  
>"She like me?"<br>"Oh, yes, I'm sure she will once she meets you."  
>"Yeah, Morgana's a very nice person." Launchpad added. "She likes all sorts of ... interesting people."<p>

* * *

><p>They walked through the alleyway and to the rat-catcher parked on the next street.<p>

"Hey, DW, you dropped this back there." Launchpad handed his gas gun to him.  
>"What was that doing on the ground, Launchpad?" Darkwing tucked it back away in its holster behind him and then helped Mandy into the sidecar.<br>"Er-well-it's a long story, DW."  
>"How can my...? Oh, never mind, Launchpad." He settled the spare helmet on Mandy's head and did it up for her with a smile. "There you go, Mandy; now you're all safe for the ride." Then he put his own helmet on and looked up at Launchpad as his friend got onto the driver's seat.<p>

"The important thing, Launchpad, is that McMouse will be coming to us now that we have what she wants."  
>"Gee, DW, maybe we should call back S.H.U.S.H. for backup?"<br>"Pfft. Launchpad, there's no need to get all melodramatic!" Darkwing scoffed as Launchpad started the engine.

They drove along the streets towards Morgana's chateau. "You and Morgana are more than plenty of backup against McMouse."


End file.
